Norma Vasquez

“I didn’t know that the attack on our story was going to be as effective as a brilliantly run national political campaign, because that is what it was: a political campaign. I didn’t know that we were being bombarded by an army of Bush backers with different divisions, different weapons, and different techniques, but always the same agenda: kill the messenger.”
― Mary Mapes, Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

“Reality didn’t matter. Right and wrong didn’t matter. Winning was the only thing that mattered to any of the people masterminding the slash-and-burn campaigns”
― Mary Mapes, Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power

“As I watched the sun come up on the horizon, I could clearly see the thickness of our atmosphere. What I saw during those few seconds really surprised me, because the atmosphere looked scarily thin! To think that this is the only thing that is keeping us alive made me an instant environmentalist. I guess I was always conscientious of our environment, but seeing the planet from that perspective made me realize how fragile our planet is and that we should be good stewards of our environment.”
― José M. Hernández, From Farmworker to Astronaut / De campesino a astronauta: My Path to the Stars / Mi viaje a las estrellas

“Was it really possible that Americans would elect to the highest office in the land, to the most powerful position on earth, a person so manifestly unfit, so brazenly immoral and corrupt, a person who lied with every breath and was a complete incompetent to boot? Never had my neighbor’s faith in humanity been so shaken.”
― Sigrid Nunez, What Are You Going Through